The Plummer's historical elements

Wurlitzer Theatre Organ:Installed in 1930, shortly after the Plummer opened, it was dubbed a concert-configured organ, meaning it could duplicate the sounds of instruments used by entire orchestras. Prior to theater organs, orchestras provided accompaniment for silent films.

The mural:A 15-foot high, 75-foot-long mural depicting Mexican farm workers, "Pastoral California," adorns the wall on the west side of the Plummer along the arched walkway.

Painted in 1934, the art piece is believed to be Fullerton's oldest mural. In 1939, education officials ordered the mural painted over for being "vulgar" and "inappropriate." Community members restored the mural in 1997.

The Plummer itself:It is named for Louis E. Plummer, superintendent of Fullerton High School and Fullerton Junior College from 1919 to 1941. The auditorium still holds the original wrought-iron chandeliers and decorated ceiling beams. The Plummer was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

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FULLERTON When Alexander Schreiner performed the 1930 dedication concert on the Plummer Auditorium's new Wurlitzer organ, the performance had to be staged over two nights to accommodate the huge demand for tickets.

Schreiner went on to serve as organist at the famed Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.

The Wurlitzer, however, has remained at the Plummer – where it continues to send out orchestral tones.

The Orange County Theatre Organ Society maintains the treasured organ, which the Fullerton Joint Union High School District owns in addition to the 1,314-seat Plummer.

"It was built for here," said Jack Townsend, a society member, while standing next to the Wurlitzer. "That is not the case with most organs."

In all, there are a few hundred theater organs that exist from the several thousand original ones in the United States and the United Kingdom, according to the American Theatre Organ Society. It is unclear what the value of the Plummer's is, said O.C. Theatre Organ Society members.

Positioned front and center on the stage, the 1,500-pound Wurlitzer commands respect: four 61-note-tiered keyboards, two more rows of stop-tabs that duplicate the sounds of instruments, and a 32-note pedal-board.

"A really good organist can play with both feet and hands," Townsend said.

The Plummer's Wurlitzer is the type once used to accompany silent films, said Ed Bridgeford, 80, an O.C. Theatre Organ Society member who has been playing that organ since he was student at Fullerton Union High School in 1950.

The high school even had an organ class at that time, Bridgeford said, and the Plummer's organ was played weekly for assemblies.

"This is a very different style organ than is typically played in a church," he said. "There are a lot of factors that go into making the type of sound that it does."

A theater organ, like the Plummer's, is meant to produce the sound of an orchestra.

More than 2,000 pipes of varying sizes and shapes and crafted from wood, brass and metal are tucked within three chambers of the ceiling above the stage.

In 1993, the Plummer's Wurlitzer underwent a $50,000 conversion that infused technology into the historical instrument.

The mastermind behind the conversion was O.C. Theatre Organ Society member Bob Trousdale, 89, who worked for a computer firm before forming the Trousdale Organ Company in 1976. Trousdale restored the console, controls and switching.

Pipe-organ wind power was replaced by electronic boxes. The technologic wizard also put in a few of his own touches.

With the touch of one of several buttons, positioned to the left of the keyboard, listeners can hear a train whistle, a car horn, a police siren, crashing symbols, or a gong.

These objects, which are in the ceiling directly above the stage, come in handy for the organist accompanying the silent films still shown sometimes at the Plummer.

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